Lobonte picked up the football from inside the goal and kicked it out weakly.
He looked a little frustrated. The goalkeeper relied on the defensive players, but when Porto was about to kick the free kick, Ajax's defensive line was a beat slower, which made the goalkeeper helpless.
The football rolled outside the penalty area and stopped there. No one cared about it.
Galasek hugged De Jong and constantly kept De Jong's head clear.
Ajax's players were a little frustrated on the field. The players in the front field bowed their heads slightly as they walked toward the backfield. The players in the backfield looked unnatural.
The pressure was too great!
It was the Champions League final!
There were still more than 20 minutes left, and they were behind now!
Except for one person.
Qin Xiong!
He trotted back to his own half of the field. He could not do anything about Porto's counterattack this time.
He had previously charged straight into Porto's penalty area and failed to complete the attack at the end line pass. He turned around and Porto quickly launched an attack in the front field. When Porto scored, he had just run to the halfway line.
He jogged past Derong and Galasek. He calmly walked up to the football, picked it up, then turned around and brushed past Derong again. He came to the kickoff point in the center circle, pressed the football on the kickoff point, and slowly retreated. After he retreated to the outside of the center circle, he stood in place, slightly raised his chin, and showed a very standard combat posture!
Qin Xiong was not surprised by De Jong's "explosion." Knowing his character, he understood that it was understandable if such a thing happened.
But since Galasek was appeasing De Jong, with the veteran's qualifications, it should not be much of a problem.
He could not help with the rest. Did he have to say what Galasek would say to De Jong again?
There was no need.
He did not know that it was the calmness and fighting spirit he showed when he picked up the football and put it on the kickoff point that made De Jong quickly calm down. He clenched his teeth and pulled himself together again!
It was just that his expression seemed to be fierce, which was quite scary.
Qin Xiong could not remember which teammate had asked him: A player with such outstanding ability, did you always win when you played in games before?
Qin Xiong shook his head with a smile.
That was the truth. As he grew up, the coaches who trained him always raised the difficulty level for him. The number of players in the game was not balanced, and he always played with fewer players. The coaches' intention was to make him realize the importance of a team, because Qin Xiong was also very selfish when he played football when he was very young.
Later on, after developing a sense of teamwork and the ability to see the big picture, it was necessary to give him a "setback education". Football matches were like this. You could not always have a smooth sailing!
How to face adversity and difficulties was the test of a player's willpower.
It often determined whether a player could go from mediocre to refined, from outstanding to godly!
Therefore, when Qin Xiong was growing up, he would lose. He would lose many times, but every time, he would make himself lose even better! Then, it was to not lose! In the end, it was victory!
This process repeated over and over again, and only then did it temper his willpower and good mentality for the competition.
Lose the game, but don't lose the game!
No matter how difficult it was, he would never lower his head. He would always raise his chin slightly. As long as the competition was not over, he would never give up!
Phew …
Qin Xiong exhaled deeply.
He watched the Porto players walk to the backfield. They were cheering each other on, and Ajax's players were already in formation.
Qin Xiong looked at his teammates. He did not realize what he had done to make his teammates quickly get rid of their depressed mood and radiate a new round of high fighting spirit.
He just knew that the game was more difficult than before.
In addition to the trailing score and the race against time, Porto was more inclined to defense than before!
It was undeniable that Qin Xiong did not like Porto's style of play, but he also had to admire the opposing team's young manager, Mourinho.
Before the game, Qin Xiong and his teammates thought McCarthy would play as the striker. As a result, Mourinho sent Alberto to the field, and the young player scored.
And Mourinho's substitution had an immediate effect. Alenichev scored the second goal.
In terms of the art of on-the-spot command, there were not many managers who could leave a deep impression on Qin Xiong this season. Mourinho definitely had the strongest impact. Perhaps because it was the Champions League final, he might have left a deeper impression on him than AC Milan's manager, Ancelotti, even if Ancelotti was more famous.
It was no wonder that top clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Liverpool were inviting him to coach.
The game restarted, and Porto did not relax because they were in the lead. They did not stop their plan to use foul harassment to reshape the game.
Although time was ticking away, Ajax did not press heavily. They knew the power of Porto's defensive counterattack. If they conceded another goal, the game would officially be over!
As Porto paid more attention to defense, it made it difficult for Ajax to push the offense into the opponent's penalty area in positional play. Even because the opponent was too wary of Qin Xiong's possession of the ball in the front field, they did not hesitate to foul to stop Qin Xiong's pace, which led to Ajax's chances of getting a long shot from the periphery were reduced.
In the 73rd minute of the game, Deco was finally shown a yellow card by the referee after he pulled Qin Xiong's jersey again.
After that, Mourinho made the second substitution. The striker, McCarthy, replaced Delle.
Considering that Delle was also carrying a yellow card, McCarthy could continue to maintain the pressure of the striker on the midfield after he came on.
Comain was a little helpless. Ajax mainly played offensive football, so he was slightly passive in the substitution segment.
Because of the high demands of the offensive style of football on the team, the players on the substitutes' bench would certainly not be as effective as the opponent's.
From another perspective, if Ajax played defensive counterattack and had space, maybe Sottars, Xikora, and Sonke on the substitutes' bench could be used. But in the current game situation, only Pienaar could be considered as a substitute. But who should he replace?
Such a substitution would not have a better effect than the existing players on the field in an ideal design.
Qin Xiong began to hand over the organization task to Galasek.
Due to the importance that Porto's players placed on him, especially after McCarthy's appearance, they formed an encirclement in the midfield, which reduced Qin Xiong's efficiency in controlling the ball in the midfield. He was even successfully tackled once.
If it were not for Porto's striker's bad starting position, perhaps the loss of the ball would have become a fatal mistake.
Qin Xiong began to take the initiative to move to the front field, so that his starting position in the offense was closer to the penalty area, so that the players in the front field could link up.
The task of connecting the front and backfield offense fell on Galasek's shoulders. He organized in the defensive midfielder area, so the risk factor was not high.
Qin Xiong could not withdraw to the defensive midfielder area to organize. Although it would certainly allow him to easily control the ball, there were only three teammates in the front field, and they were scattered. It was meaningless for him to just control the ball.
So, he moved to the front field to increase the number of players in the front field who directly threatened the opponent's goal.
As time passed, Porto's counterattack was much more cautious than before. When Ajax did not come out in full force, their counterattack efficiency also decreased.
But Mourinho on the sidelines was not worried.
It looked like Ajax had exhausted his creativity and could not play more exquisite coordination in the offense. His on-the-spot adjustments were correct. He compressed the space in the middle and backfield, coordinated with the striker to press the midfield line, and restrained Qin Xiong's play in the midfield. After cutting off the source of inspiration for Ajax's offense, Ajax was like a tiger with its teeth pulled out!
The Porto fans in the stands became more and more excited, and the Ajax fans became more and more worried.
Mourinho looked up at the time on the big screen.
79:47
There were only ten minutes left in the game. Including injury stoppage time, it would not be more than 15 minutes.
Young Commander Shao, who had shown a well-thought-out temperament from before the game, began to prepare to play his last card and finish the game!
He would not let the team defend. He would always maintain the threat of counterattack, but he would weaken the offensive power a little to strengthen the defensive line. In this way, once Ajax had to press heavily at the last moment, Porto's counterattack opportunity did not need the cooperation of three or four players. Perhaps the impact of one or two players would be enough to send Ajax into the abyss!
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